WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ The World After the Fall ◈
Chapter 133: Episode 19. War of the Six Gods (6)
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“Why are you still naked? Put some clothes on!”
Sirwen shouted in frustration as she watched the screen.
On the display, Jaehwan was still completely naked, stabbing his enemies to death. The waves of Alliance troops seemed endless.
Chunghuh, who had been glaring at the screen beside her, added a comment of his own.
“Are we still not at Caspion?”
“Did you already forget me saying it would take more than half a month? And why are you pulling out hardtack? Are you seriously worried about him?”
Crunch. Chunghuh bit into the hardtack.
“Being worried doesn’t mean I can’t eat.”
“You said that Rift brat went to help him! Then why can’t I see them all of a sudden?”
“It was a sudden request, so they must have their own circumstances...”
“Sirwen-nim, the enemy’s movements are unusual.”
At Karlton’s words, enormous warships appeared on the screen. The Alliance’s weapon of large-scale war, the great warship 「Nebula」 series.
Those weapons were notorious not only in 〈Metaverse〉 but throughout the whole of 《Abyss》, and they were Parts Sirwen knew well.
“Damn it, our Destruction should have been there!”
By sheer coincidence, the 「Destruction」 they were riding had been designed to drive back that very 「Nebula」 series.
A moment later, the fully charged warships opened fire all at once.
Boom-boom-boom-boom-boom!
The warships visible on the screen were not the new-model versions of the 「Nebula」 series. Even so, a single old Nebula was enough to turn a small Site into complete ruin.
There was no way Jaehwan, who had no proper Parts to speak of, could face a weapon like that.
“Did that brat have a Part like that in his Unique World?”
Crumbs of hardtack spilled from Chunghuh’s mouth. Sirwen also stared blankly at the screen.
A gigantic tower was enduring the Alliance’s bombardment.
Sirwen murmured in a trembling voice.
“That’s...”
Her eyes trembled. She knew that tower as well.
It was the second work created by her godfather, Master Mulack.
The Tower of Nightmares 「Fortress of Regret」.
It was the tower Jaehwan had spent his entire life inside.
That tower, the one that had once made his life a nightmare, now stood tall upon Jaehwan’s Worldview, protecting others.
Sirwen bit down hard on her trembling lip.
She did not know how to describe the guilt and exhilaration surging inside her.
‘Godfather, are you watching too?’
Was he watching this from somewhere on the Phantasmal Tree as well, this sight of the human who had destroyed the tower he made finally trampling even the domain of the gods?
[The God of Flash ‘Rayray’ says that tower looks kind of familiar.]
[The Dragon God ‘Droyan’ asks if that is not a famous tower.]
Sirwen flinched and checked the messages.
She was not the only one who remembered that tower.
By now, news of Jaehwan had likely spread not only through 《Abyss》 but across all of 《Great Lands》.
[‘Anonymous Lord 54’ has entered the broadcast!]
[‘Anonymous Lord 21’ has entered the broadcast!]
Messages announcing the arrival of Lords had started appearing at some point.
Perhaps even the Lords of the twelve zones were watching Jaehwan’s broadcast.
A few years ago, Jaehwan had dealt the Lords of 《Great Lands》 a devastating blow when he escaped 《Chaos》. If so, it was entirely possible that gods connected to the Lords would start moving now.
Growing anxious, Sirwen bit her nails and raised the ship’s output.
‘Just how far are you planning to blow this up, you idiot.’
On the screen, Jaehwan, mounted on a giant crow, could be seen flying toward the warships.
* * *
At the same time, Rene was watching Jaehwan on the same screen.
“Aaaaah! Hang in there, Naked Stab!”
[A new viewer-god ranking record has been set!]
[178,234 people are currently watching your broadcast.]
Among all the content created in this 〈Metaverse〉 over the last several centuries, there had never been a live broadcast with this many simultaneous viewers.
[The ‘War of the Six Gods’ event is currently underway in 〈Metaverse〉.]
[〈Metaverse〉 is holding an attendance event exclusively for new passengers.]
As if it had been waiting for this very moment, 〈Metaverse〉 was also running all kinds of events to attract new passengers.
The Alliance was doing the same.
[Alliance ‘Bihwa’ has launched a new ‘Part gacha draw’.]
[Alliance ‘Fire’ has launched a new ‘Skin gacha draw’.]
Even while their leaders were fighting with their lives on the line, the Alliance kept launching new products. They were probably that confident in their leaders’ victory.
But they still did not know.
[The God of Flash ‘Rayray’ says you never know until you measure them against each other.]
This was no longer the Alliance’s “game.”
Even Rene, who had watched over 〈Metaverse〉 for more than a thousand years, could not predict the outcome of this battle.
There was only one thing she was certain of.
[Many gods are watching how the ‘War of the Six Gods’ will unfold.]
By tomorrow, everyone in 《Abyss》 would know about this incident.
* * *
Jaehwan looked down at the pitch-black armor covering his entire body. Ethan’s exclusive Setting, 「Raven Armor」, was protecting him.
Every time he swung Solitary Unbowed, the path of the incoming bombardment twisted away. The shells he could not block were stopped by Ethan’s armor.
[Still far?]
Ethan, transformed into a giant crow, spoke.
Flying through the air with Jaehwan on his back, Ethan evaded the bombardment with outrageous aerial maneuvers.
“Not much farther now.”
The waves of World Power dwelling in Solitary Unbowed had grown dangerously violent.
Thanks to sharing Ethan’s World Power through Sanctuary Bonding, Jaehwan’s technique was being prepared far faster than before. Even the durable Solitary Unbowed seemed to struggle to contain that World Power, letting out a low, pained hum.
[I cannot hold out much longer. End this as quickly as possible.]
After carrying Jaehwan through another display of acrobatic flight, Ethan spoke in a strained voice.
The crow’s wings wavered uneasily.
Jaehwan could feel it too. Merely maintaining the Bonding was likely forcing Ethan to endure the pain of his existence being burned away.
[Fire!]
「World Bombardment」 poured from the guns of the great warships. The sky of the Sixth Floor blazed with dazzling light.
If it had struck aboveground, the world itself would have been torn apart.
They slipped free of the barrage through Ethan’s exquisite flying, only for a golden spear to come streaking in from a blind spot.
[Fool. Just because you got lucky and defeated Rakers, do you think that puts you on equal footing with the Six Gods?]
The shining spear, Galateon, swung their sacred spear as they flaunted their World Power.
It was a stab without the slightest hesitation.
After facing the Awakened One Jin Eunsae, they had clearly gained confidence. They showed no sign at all of fearing Jaehwan.
In midair, the shining spear and Solitary Unbowed collided with a thunderous roar.
Boom!
Driven back dozens of meters by that single clash, Galateon stared blankly at their own arm.
Their treasured weapon had snapped cleanly in half.
And if Jaehwan hadn’t held back at the last instant, Galateon would have lost the entire arm.
As Galateon retreated in shock, Jaehwan did not give chase. Instead, he charged World Power once more.
Ethan spoke.
[Jaehwan.]
“Thirty seconds.”
The World Power dwelling in Solitary Unbowed had now taken on a fully black glow. It was a darkness so deep it looked ready to swallow everything in the world.
Rakers’s frantic shout came from the warship.
[Concentrate all firepower! His goal is to hold out until the world is destroyed!]
Jaehwan had already cleared the Sixth Floor Task. Once this world vanished, he would naturally move up to the next floor.
By now, the furious volcanic eruptions had left more than half of the land covered in lava. The Alliance forces, growing desperate, had started to waver as well.
“We can’t keep doing this!”
“An order’s an order, but this is insane!”
Unlike Jaehwan, the Alliance troops had not entered the Sixth Floor after receiving a Task, and if the world was destroyed, they could be swept into annihilation. Some of the Alliance members who had already been seized by fear were opening Doors and fleeing to the upper floors.
Galateon, who had retreated in haste toward the great warships, also spoke in a low groan.
If they were caught in the aftershock of annihilation, there was no guarantee that either the great warships or the Metaverse Six Gods would come through safely.
[Would it not be better to fall back this time? This is not our only chance.]
[Galateon. If that monster reaches the Seventh Floor, do you really think we will be able to handle him then?]
Rakers snarled viciously. Galateon and Justice might have been willing to yield, but Rakers could not yield for a reason of their own.
They had already manifested their Sanctuary and still suffered a brutal defeat at Jaehwan’s hands. If they lost this battle as well, there was a very real chance they would no longer be guaranteed a place among the Metaverse Six Gods.
From the central warship, Justice’s voice rang out.
[We end this here.]
All three great warships began firing at once.
It was an attack that poured out most of their remaining World Power.
[‘Anonymous God 94’ is intoxicated by the thrill of battle.]
[The God of Mortality ‘Thanatos’ delights in this life-or-death battlefield!]
The color of the sky flashed strangely, and a moment later the airspace around the warships was swallowed in dazzling light.
Galateon, the Shining Spear.
Sanctuary Manifestation.
「Holy Spear of Victory」.
Rakers, the God of Assassination.
Sanctuary Manifestation.
「Shadow of All Weapons」.
Justice, the God of Definition.
Sanctuary Manifestation.
「Sanctuary of Definition」.
Three of the Metaverse Six Gods manifesting their Sanctuaries at the same time.
Galateon’s unnaturally enlarged sacred spear, Rakers’s myriad weapons cast across the pitch-black storm clouds, and beyond that even the pattern of a hammer embroidered across the heavens.
It was the kind of grand spectacle one might not witness twice in a generation.
[Many gods are purely awed by the martial might of the ‘Metaverse Six Gods’!]
Galateon’s spear shot out, followed by Rakers’s myriad weapons. The guns of the warships, strengthened by the effect of 「Definition」, spat fire all at once.
Even if Ethan Cart or Andersen had returned in their prime, they could not have stopped this attack. No god or Lord could survive that bombardment.
The moment the all-out offensive of the three gods blotted out every direction with nowhere left to run, Jaehwan’s Solitary Unbowed finally moved.
“I’m starting.”
The crow spread its wings wide and nodded.
Like a bird flying toward the sun, Ethan dove into the center of the bombardment with Jaehwan on his back.
The space before them turned white, and the searing heat began burning their skin.
The warships’ bombardment bleached the world like a white canvas.
Black sparks started crackling across Jaehwan’s Solitary Unbowed. It was a movement utterly unlike anything that had come before.
Jaehwan Style, First Form.
This technique was the culmination of all the experience Jaehwan had accumulated while facing formidable foes. He had fought Sa Myeonghun, Ebony’s strategist, and the highest-ranking Field Commanders. He had caught glimpses of the Combat Power wielded by the transcendent being Catastrophe and measured the Combat Power of the Twelve Great Lords and the Seven Divine Thrones he had yet to face. Through it all, Jaehwan had reached one conclusion.
Unless he surpassed them, he would never reach the end of this world.
He despaired, he faltered, and even so he refused to give up until the very end.
At last, Jaehwan created this technique.
It could not be called a Stab or a slash, and it was a Setting unlike any technique Jaehwan had used before.
If it absolutely had to be called something, then it was this.
「Constellation Rending」
As if joining one end of a canvas to the other, a black and ominous straight line split the heavens.
In the next moment, every scene before his eyes ripped in half, like paper torn by an irresistible force.
Footnotes:
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